Bugatti Chiron sold out – end of the 16-cylinder engine era

Created: 01/15/2022 08:13

By: Marcus Efler

The eight-liter engine from Bugatti marks the pinnacle of the combustion engine era.

The successor to the Chiron, which has since been sold out, is switching to electric.

Molsheim (France) – The year 2005 may one day be remembered as the high point of the combustion engine age: At that time, Bugatti started series production of its Veyron with a 1001 hp W16 engine, which was then even boosted to up to 1,600 hp in the successor Chiron.

Although there were and are similarly powerful, even more powerful hyper sports cars from small manufacturers like Koenigsegg, the complex eight-liter engine from the VW Group, during the development of which the engineers struggled with thermal problems for a long time, is today considered an unprecedented technical masterpiece.

(Bugatti unique La Voiture Noire: Who gets the most expensive new car in the world?)

Bugatti Chiron sold out – end of the 16-cylinder engine era

Despite the prices in the seven-digit range (e.g. 3.8 million euros for the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport), buyers have to wait a long time, sometimes more than a year, for their Bugatti.

Multi-millionaires and billionaires who haven't lined up there yet have to be very brave now: because the mid-engine coupé, which has a speed of over 400 km/h, is sold out, as reported by 24auto.de.

(Lamborghini sold out: This engine will never come back)

Soon only to be had: Bugatti with 16 cylinders.

(Iconic image) © Drew Phillips/Bugatti

Bugatti Chiron sold out - the Bugatti Bolide anyway

All 500 planned Bugatti Chirons have found their buyers. And when the last of them will probably receive their car in mid-2023, not only will production of this series end, but also that of the 16-cylinder. Together with the 450 built units of the Veyron and the 40 of the 1,850 hp (and of course also sold out) Bugatti Bolide, the exceptional engine drives not even 1,000 cars all over the world.

It is unlikely that future Bugatti models will again have this or a similar unit: Volkswagen has now spun off its luxury brand.

Although the sports car subsidiary Porsche is economically involved in the joint venture, the Croatian hypercar manufacturer Rimac has taken over control.

(Bugatti beaten: The most expensive sports car in the world is now called SP Chaos)

Bugatti Chiron sold out - the successor gets technology from Rimac

And it's fully electric: the 1,912 hp Rimac Nevera and the Pininfarina Battista based on it are considered the most powerful electric vehicles in the world.

The electric motor develops the power with significantly less effort than Bugatti's 16-cylinder, this drive will also be in future Bugattis.

In the future, the challenges of extremely powerful cars will no longer lie in the engine performance, but in the brakes, the aerodynamics of the body and the thermal management of the batteries.

But if you want to take a stroll with the peak of the combustion engine age in the future, you can expect hefty prices at auctions.